WASHINGTON – New York Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney’s wedding last month had it all — celebrities, fireworks and even a small drone used to shoot a spectacular wedding video.
But the Federal Aviation Administration prohibits the commercial use of drones like the miniature helicopter that gathered the breathtaking aerial footage of Maloney’s June 21 wedding to Randy Florke in Cold Spring, N.Y.
Maloney, a Hudson Valley Democrat who sits on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Aviation Subcommittee, which oversees the FAA, would be hard-pressed to deny familiarity with the issue.
His office declined to comment Monday.
The FAA this month issued public guidance reiterating its position that it’s illegal to use drones to film property or an event if the purpose is commercial. In this case the purpose was commercial — the videographer was paid for the wedding video.
Various groups hoping to commercialize drones are challenging that policy, and a March ruling by a National Transportation Safety Board administrative law judge left the agency’s power to fine drone operators in question.
The result is what industry officials call a legal gray area. The FAA prohibits commercial use of small drones but lacks the power to enforce that policy.
“The FAA has no teeth” one official familiar with the issue said.
Parker Gyokeres, owner of Propellerheads Aerial Photography, who operated the drone at Maloney’s wedding, and was paid by Maloney’s videographer, acknowledged in an interview Monday the “FAA has straight banned everyone from flying.”
But Gyokeres distinguished between federal law and FAA interpretation.
“There are no laws that prohibit the use of multicopters for photography,” he said.
Prior to wedding, the Gyokeres and Maloney briefly discussed the murky legality of drone use and lack of clear federal policy, a source said. Maloney mentioned that he sits on the subcommittee overseeing the FAA but didn’t want to discuss policy on his wedding day, according to the source.
Maloney has thus far looked set to cruise to reelection over former Rep. Nan Hayworth, who he defeated in 2012.
E. O’Brien Murray, a spokesman for Hayworth campaign, called the incident “disappointing.”
“Clearly Sean Patrick Maloney doesn’t think that the rules apply to him, despite the fact that such rules come from the FAA that he helps oversee from his position on the Transportation & Infrastructure committee,” Murray said.
‘Unfortunately, this is exactly what people are so frustrated with when it comes to Washington politicians. Sean Patrick Maloney thinks he is above the men and women in the Hudson Valley he represents.”
Gyokeres, a former Air Force photojournalist who stressed his commitment to safety, said he received permission from the Capitol Police to use the drone. Representatives of the force attended the wedding protecting House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who both attended. A Capitol Police spokeswoman didn’t respond to inquiries Monday.
The Secret Service was also involved the wedding due the possibility that Hillary Clinton, whom Maloney once worked for, might show up. She did not.
